Some resign on principle; Pilar Gay rises through loyalty.

What happened in Palencia

On Monday, all four members of the Socialist list for Congress in Palencia resigned. Party members had chosen Álvaro Bilbao as lead candidate, with 77 votes in favour, one abstention and the backing of every party branch in the province. The Federal List Committee removed him and put MP Mariluz Martínez Seijo in his place. Those who resigned said they wanted to make clear how little regard had been shown for the wishes of party members.

When your own side says enough

I do not often write this, but I want to acknowledge it: there are still Socialists who put principle before office. We see it in Palencia and in critical voices within the PSOE itself. I am glad, because Spain needs a Socialist Party that believes in Spain and its members again.

What happened in Palencia is typical of Pedro Sánchez’s approach. Years of work by people committed to public service count for nothing when there is a need to put trusted allies in place. In my view, Ferraz is not looking for candidates who will defend their province’s interests, but obedient pieces to prop up a personal project, increasingly at odds with judges, prosecutors and anyone who asks it to account for itself.

And in Guardamar, Pilar Gay

If there was rebellion in Palencia, there is obedience in Guardamar. Pilar Gay, councillor and deputy mayor, has been confirmed as number two on the PSOE’s list for Congress in Alicante, behind Alcoy’s mayor, Toni Francés. She is also the PSOE’s Organisation Secretary for the Vega Baja.

Her party presents this as an opportunity for the comarca. I see it differently. In recent years, Pilar Gay has been a loyal member of José Luis Sáez’s administration, led by a mayor whose style many residents consider personalistic and intolerant of criticism. I have experienced this first-hand: I was ejected from a council meeting for saying what the governing team did not want to hear.

Meanwhile, problems are piling up. Terraces and the hospitality trade, the port, the street market, the beaches, a lack of services, housing... the same old problems remain unresolved: decisions that we in the opposition have challenged and which, in our view, deserve a thorough review. Wherever you look, Guardamar is not moving forward.

In the face of all this, I have not seen Pilar Gay speak out, but I have seen her raise her hand in favour of injustices caused by her own side. It gives the impression that her priority has not been to reform anything, but to serve her mayor loyally and now her party, regardless of the price the town pays.

A precedent that does not inspire confidence

Guardamar has been here before. Socialist Ana Martínez Zaragoza, a councillor on our Town Council, has been a senator for Alicante since 2019. Seven years on, it is hard to find anything Guardamar can point to as the result of that presence in Madrid. She will no longer be leading the Senate list.

I fear that with Pilar Gay in Congress, it will be more of the same: one more seat for party discipline and none for Guardamar.

Let her prove us wrong

I wish her well personally. I hope I am wrong and that, if she reaches Congress, Guardamar finally feels the benefit. But let us not forget one thing: Pilar Gay’s influence in Madrid will depend on Pedro Sánchez returning to government. And that would, in my view, be the worst news for Spain and for Guardamar.

We will be watching, but stormy times lie ahead for the local PSOE

The Socialist landscape in Guardamar is shifting. Pilar Gay, one of the mayor’s trusted allies, is packing her bags for Madrid. And Ana Martínez Zaragoza, a councillor in the same group and a senator since 2019, will not lead the Senate list this time. If her focus returns to Guardamar, José Luis Sáez will lose a loyal ally and regain a figure with influence of her own. With a mayor who, in my view, is losing credibility among his own ranks by the day, drawing up the Socialist list for the May 2027 municipal elections promises to be anything but dull.

On 29 November, the residents will have their say.

Ángel Braceras Izquierdo, Guardamar del Segura People’s Party councillor